U.S. Army Launches America's Army 3 PC Action Game

The U.S. Army today launched
America's Army 3, the only action game that delivers an authentic and
entertaining Army experience by reflecting the training, technology, actions,
and career advancement of a Soldier within an exciting, free game experience.
Players can download the teen-rated game from Steam (www.americasarmy.com/steam),
as well as from partners listed at the America's Army website (www.americasarmy.com).
As with previous versions of America's Army, AA3 will be constantly updated to
include new features and missions and to highlight new technologies being
incorporated in today's Army.

In America's Army 3, Every Detail
CountsTM and as a result, the game has more authentic military elements
including training, technology, weapons, and audio than any other military game.
Built on Unreal Engine 3, AA3 delivers stunningly realistic environments,
lighting effects, animations, and team-based experiences so that America's Army
players can experience how Soldiers train, live, and advance in the Army.
Players are bound by Rules of Engagement (ROE) and gain experience as they
navigate challenges in team-based, multiplayer, force-on-force operations. In
the game, a player's actions and demonstrated Army values are integral to
successful mission accomplishment and affect a player's career progression.

The game is launching with five
different environments, each with three different mission scenario options for a
total of 15 different map/mission combinations. Initially, the core of the
gameplay focuses on an Infantry Soldier (11B). Players first complete Basic
Combat Training and then progress to Advanced Individual Training for a variety
of specialized roles that the Infantry Soldier performs, such as Advanced
Rifleman, Automatic Rifleman, Squad Designated Marksman, and Grenadier. This
advanced training allows players to unlock new abilities and gear, customize
their gear and equipment loads, increase their in-game skill level, and progress
in their Army careers.

The America's Army 3 game offers a
number of new features including:

New Scoring System - In this new
Army values-based scoring system, a player's "Honor" score is a combination of
his/her scores from subcategories that represent the seven core Army Values:
Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal
Courage. The values are matched with certain game behaviors, and demonstrating
these values contributes to successful gameplay and accomplishments. For
example, personal courage can be demonstrated by accomplishing the mission
objectives even if the player is the last teammate to remain in the game.
Selfless service is demonstrated by aiding an injured Soldier even though it
may put the player in harm's way. Other players will be able to select
teammates based on their Soldier profiles, which reflect how players have
progressed in the game as well as their player roles/gameplay style
preferences.

Detailed Statistics - AA3's
extremely detailed statistics give players immediate feedback at the end of
rounds and matches in online play, in addition to summarizing player
behaviors. Players can accrue a number of stats including marksmanship
accuracy; time played; time played by class role; total score; rounds won,
lost, and survived; objectives captured, and teammates treated as a combat
lifesaver. Players can also monitor where their hits are landing on other
players, as well as where they are taking hits. These statistics are used to
drive a player achievement system through which players can earn a variety of
awards including coins, ribbons, and medals.

Character Movements - In addition
to basic movements such as running, sprinting, and crouching, the game
supports tactical and combat movement types. A tactical movement is a more
methodical, slower movement that reduces the noise associated with the
player's motion. The combat movement is louder but faster. Combat movements
include the combat roll, a full roll either to the left or to the right in the
prone position, the combat slide in which players can slide into a crouch
position from a sprint, and the combat dive in which players dive face first
into a prone position. These movements enable players to evade the enemy or
better position themselves to incapacitate the enemy. When moving throughout
the maps, players can vault (place a foot on the object and leap or climb over
it) as well as mantle (place a hand down to get over larger objects than the
vault would support).

Player Damage Model - The player
damage system has a high level of detail that tracks a number of the player's
health metrics and divides the player's body into distinct areas that can each
be damaged separately. The type and location of a player's injury will affect
the player's abilities. For example, injuries in the lower body, such as the
legs, will slow the player down, while injuries in the upper body, such as the
torso and arms, will hinder accuracy but not movement speed. When players are
affected by injuries they can be revived in some cases by their teammates. All
players will have Combat Life Saving (CLS) training as part of Basic Combat
Training so they can assist and stabilize an injured or incapacitated
teammate. However, players must make the right decisions about medical
treatment in order to heal, and not hurt, the injured player.

Mission Planning - Squad and Fire
Team leaders now have strategic choices to make before a mission. The Squad
Leader will assign the fire teams to an objective, and the Fire Team leaders
will in turn determine where on the map their fire team will spawn. The
individual Soldiers will make decisions about whether they carry heavy,
medium, or light ammunition loads. The flexibility of mission preplanning
gives players a variety of customization options and greater replayability.

Authenticity of Weapons and
Weapons Effects - Players can customize their weapon configuration and load
(gear) with attachable modifications as well as select the type and number of
ammunition cartridges and grenades they'll need to accomplish their mission.
These choices affect gameplay, as heavy loads negatively affect speed and
endurance while lighter loads negatively affect fire power. The game's
ballistics models are also highly detailed. Bullets in the game operate as
they would in real life, requiring players to be aware of their surroundings.
The game demonstrates a realistic interaction between bullets and materials,
allowing penetration through wood and drywall and ricochets off metal and
stone. Even the material that a bullet ricochets off will create different
angles of bullet movement. In this reactive environment, players will have to
quickly learn the difference between cover and concealment.

Lighting and Sound - The
development team paid great attention to the realism of the lighting and
sounds within the America's Army 3 game to make them part of tactical
gameplay. Players can use high fidelity audio clues to assess a combat
situation. For example, they can determine the proximity of the bullet to
their location based on the sound it makes. If the bullet is in close
proximity to the player, the player will hear an explosive sound from the
sonic boom that the bullet makes as it whizzes by the player. If the bullet is
farther away, the player will hear the muzzle shot and the cavitation sounds
the bullet makes as it echoes in the distance. These sounds were recorded in a
live-fire scenario by the developers with the help of Army Subject Matter
Experts. Sound occlusion and reverberation are other game features that make
the AA3 audio experience more realistic than any other military game.

The AA3 team used Illuminate Lab's
Beast Lighting Solution to enhance the visual quality of the game. Beast is a
global illumination package that, coupled with America's Army, allowed the
developers to design more realistic lighting and shadowing within the game. The
realistic environments in AA3 reproduce the natural effects that occur when
lighting reflects and bounces off materials and characters in the virtual world,
making camouflage very important for the Soldier in the game. AA3's lighting
also simulates realistic eye adjustments when a player moves from indoors (dark
areas) to outside (lighter areas) and vice versa.

These sound and light effects work
together in situations, such as when a player throws a grenade in a small
enclosed area and players who are close to the grenade's point of impact feel
the effects of overpressure, which can cause ear ringing, dizziness, and pain. A
flash bang can cause the player to experience temporary blindness and hearing
loss. Together, the high fidelity sound and lighting contribute to the overall
realism and authenticity of AA3.

Players can also enjoy America's
Army - The Graphic Novel, a free online graphic novel based on America's Army 3.
The graphic novel, which can be easily viewed without download, is live on the
America's Army website (www.americasarmy.com/graphicnovel/).
America's Army - The Graphic Novel begins at the start of a conflict with a
story arc from the perspective of a Soldier who is a member of a U.S. Army Long
Range Surveillance (LRS) team, and will intertwine that Soldier's story along
with the stories of others Soldiers whose occupational specialties include
Military Intelligence, Medic, UAV Operator, Infantryman, and Helicopter Pilot.
Through the episodic releases of the graphic novel, viewers will discover the
main Soldiers' stories and accompany them on missions as they experience the
Army's technologies and equipment, Army Values, different MOSs and Army life.